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Published 23:20 IST, June 11th 2020

Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager claims UFC star motivated despite father's critical health

UFC news: Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been more motivated since his father's declining health conditions, says manager Ali Abdelaziz.

Reported by: Raj Sarkar
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UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov appeared to have a tough time past couple of weeks, as his family and father suffered from medical complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. There were reports that Khabib’s father’s health deteriorated extensively for which he was forced to be admitted in a medically induced coma. However, the undefeated UFC lightweight Champion still did not call off his training amidst his return plans.

Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz and teammate Daniel Cormier revealed that the Dagestani superstar had been training every day despite his father’s critical condition and is eager to return to the UFC action soon. Not only that, but Khabib’s manager further stated that father’s illness has highly motivated Khabib Nurmagomedov, as he is training twice a day.

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UFC news: Khabib Nurmagomedov father health issues have motivated him more

While speaking with ESPN journalist Brett Okamoto, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz revealed the Dagestani Champion’s current status and return plans. During the interview, Ali Abdelaziz said, “I think Khabib’s father being sick has motivated him (Khabib Nurmagomedov) more. He is training every day, two times a day. He is in camp already.” Khabib’s fans have already been buzzing with excitement, as it has been a long time since ‘The Eagle’ has paved his way inside the octagon.

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Khabib successfully defended his lightweight strap against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 and since then, has been out of action. He was scheduled to face Tony Ferguson at the main event of UFC 249 but in the final moments, Khabib pulled out from the contest citing the 'Russia lockdown' as the reason for his exit from the matchup. Meanwhile, UFC replaced Khabib with Justin Gaethje, who went on to defeat Tony Ferguson for the Interim title. Now, Khabib Nurmagomedov will be facing Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje on his return to the UFC.

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UFC News: Khabib Nurmagomedov acknowledges Justin Gaethje via IG

The undefeated Dagestani recently took to Instagram and acknowledged his next opponent Justin Gaethje. Khabib posted a video of Goethe's iconic highlight reels and captioned it with, “My Next Opponent”. Although Khabib Nurmagomedov is still billed as the favourite in the contest, a lot of MMA veterans believe that Justin Gaethje can potentially hand Khabib his first loss of MMA career.

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Image courtesy: UFC YouTube

23:20 IST, June 11th 2020